SG-U – Earth (1x07) - (Discuss – Grade | SPOILERS)

[Kelthaz]

Wow, that was exciting. I can't wait until the next episode so I can find out if Chloe gets over her boyfriend cheating on her with her best friend or if Telford fucks Young's wife. This is so much better than the cheesy fun of SG:1 or SG:A. God, I think I'm going to throw up.

1 Chevron.

 

[RJDiogenes]

In SGU, the crazy soldier was in the brig where he belonged, and the duplicitous scientist was the only person they could find who was smart enough to figure out how to work that last chevron (but only with the help of an even less ideal person, Eli, whom they only found through an act of desperation). And no, they shouldn't all be highly motivated. Two of them (Young and the medic) were hoping to quit for personal reasons before they got stuck on Destiny. With one exception, the motivated people who were SUPPOSED to gate to Destiny didn't make it there, as Telford keeps reminding us.

Telford is as wacko as the rest. And O'Neill has become incompetent, as the issue with the inappropriate use of surrogate bodies demonstrates. I could see some of the civilians snapping under the pressure, although they are all adult professionals, too. I can even see Rush, if he's somehow the only one who can understand Destiny, although that certainly seems far from likely (and the way they brought in Eli was ridiculous, but he actually demonstrates possibly the most maturity of any of them). Young and the medic may have wanted to quit, but they are still adults; Young makes me cringe with his adolescent behavior. Greer should be nowhere near the Stargate Program; and then there's the other guy who went all pussy during the shuttle lottery and then stole food. And the hero archetype is a religious child molester.

I think the writers did a good job explaining why these are the wrong people and why they ended up on this mission.

Not good enough, and they haven't explained why everybody back home has gone stupid.

I don't sympathize with any of the griping I've read about this show so far. If I wanted to watch a show about a bunch of ideal servicemen and women who are well-suited to be lost in space, who act like "adults" (which around here seems to mean they're not interested in hot sex, in which case I feel sorry for any adults here)

You've never heard me say that.

I'd watch Voyager. And be bored to death.

Voyager wasn't boring, but I could say a few things about it. In any case, what I find boring is the endless awkward and forced shoehorning of ultra-"flawed" characters into places they don't belong.

 

[Harvey]

Although we could argue about Battlestar Galactica endlessly, RJDiogenes, your assesment of Stargate Universe is, for the most part, spot on.

In defense of O'niell, though, I'm unsure as to how much authority he has over the body swap stones. The power relationship between his post and the IOA hasn't been clearly defined yet. Or, it has, and I've just missed it.

 

[Australis]

More "nu" storytelling. Grown men and women who are supposed to be highly competent professionals act like retarded adolescents. The most exotic thing we see in this alleged sci-fi show is a bar band. And poor Colonel O'Neill is turned into a bureaucratic dullard in charge of a Stargate program that apparently has lost not only any hint of competency, but any concept of policies and procedures.

This. Had enough of the shouty behaviour on BSG. And yes, though they are the wrong people, they should still be professional; enough for inclusion in a sensitive, top secret, high risk mission.

And that seems to be what it's all about for him: going down in history as the guy who brought Destiny home, and cataloged all the Ancient wonders on it.

He'll never bring the Destiny back to the home galaxy, it took 100,000 years to get where it is. best he can hope for is to get the gate working and bring some stuff back.

Still not voting, still not gripping me, not good or bad, indifferent, which can be worse. That said, will continue watching.

I think they need to lose the stones for 5-6 episodes, throw them back on their own resources and own control. When contact is reestablished, they'll be less likely to take shit from the homeworld.

What I'd like to see next is finding a way to start repairing the Destiny, opening it up to exploration, and Chloe becoming Explorer Girl. Bring back the sense of wonder finding new stuff and new situations in this huge ship.

 

[Star Wolf]

Although we could argue about Battlestar Galactica endlessly, RJDiogenes, your assesment of Stargate Universe is, for the most part, spot on.

In defense of O'niell, though, I'm unsure as to how much authority he has over the body swap stones. The power relationship between his post and the IOA hasn't been clearly defined yet. Or, it has, and I've just missed it.

You would think someone under his command was in charge of choosing the person on the Earth end of the stone. When Ming-Na's character came she was walking around in a Senior Airman's uniform.

 

[Tom Servo]

And the hero archetype is a religious child molester.

You mean Lt. Scott?

Oh come on, he is supposed to be, what, 18, in those flashbacks Im guessing. He had sex with a 16 year old. While that is, under law, rape in some states, to say he is a child molester is completely unfair to the character.

You make it sound like he was some perverted 50 year old who went after 6th graders. He and the girl were two young people who made a dumbass decision.

 

[Gepard]

And yes, though they are the wrong people, they should still be professional; enough for inclusion in a sensitive, top secret, high risk mission.

The trouble with that "wrong people wrong place" idea is that, dialogue claiming that to the contrary, they're precisely the kind of people who should be on a mission like this – trained military officers and a cadre of civilian scientists with experience using exactly the kind of Ancient technology they flying. Not to mention that they were all assigned to Icarus Base anyway, so they are (or should be) Stargate mission caliber people.

As much as this is being compared to nuBSG in tone *coughyouknowwhoyouarecoughcough*, on BSG when, for example, Roslin was the secretary of education and 42nd in line for the presidency, when she was sworn into office despite being far more out of her league than any of the people on SGU, she put her chin up, engaged some critical thinking and did her job. It was hard to believe that Young would think that people not liking his orders would be a valid reason not to give them.

(That said, I genuinely enjoyed this episode. Eli and his mom had a great scene, I liked the IOA's plan to get the team back to Earth and Dr. Rush is now an official Magnificent Bastard for the ploy he puled to get Telford and company off the ship. Even Eli and Chloe was great, as I liked his interaction with her drunken complaining.)

 

[Broccoli]

I lost a lot of respect for Young as a leader for pushing the affair with TJ and then go home to try his luck with his wife. That's something the civilians can afford to do but the leader of the expedition can't afford to have this kind of relationship drama with the lower ranks cloud his judgement!

Eh? What are you talking about? He didn't have an affair with TJ on the ship. The opening scene was a dream.

We honestly don't know what their prior relationship was other than that one existed. The reason Young's wife/girlfriend (whatever she is) was mad at him is because that he left to go take the position off-world, which subsequently lead to him being stranded. The fact that TJ is there as well is a frustrating detail for her, not the reason she was mad at Young.

And yes, though they are the wrong people, they should still be professional; enough for inclusion in a sensitive, top secret, high risk mission.

The trouble with that "wrong people wrong place" idea is that, dialogue claiming that to the contrary, they're precisely the kind of people who should be on a mission like this – trained military officers and a cadre of civilian scientists with experience using exactly the kind of Ancient technology they flying. Not to mention that they were all assigned to Icarus Base anyway, so they are (or should be) Stargate mission caliber people.

Not necessarily. Just because they worked at Icarus Base didn't automatically mean they were trained and ready to go on this mission.

That would be like saying anyone that worked at Stargate Command could easily go from being a nobody technician to becoming a part of a SG unit.

 

[Tom Servo]

I lost a lot of respect for Young as a leader for pushing the affair with TJ and then go home to try his luck with his wife. That's something the civilians can afford to do but the leader of the expedition can't afford to have this kind of relationship drama with the lower ranks cloud his judgement!

Eh? What are you talking about? He didn't have an affair with TJ on the ship. The opening scene was a dream.

We honestly don't know what their prior relationship was other than that one existed. The reason Young's wife/girlfriend (whatever she is) was mad at him is because that he left to go take the position off-world, which subsequently lead to him being stranded. The fact that TJ is there as well is a frustrating detail for her, not the reason she was mad at Young.

And yes, though they are the wrong people, they should still be professional; enough for inclusion in a sensitive, top secret, high risk mission.

The trouble with that "wrong people wrong place" idea is that, dialogue claiming that to the contrary, they're precisely the kind of people who should be on a mission like this – trained military officers and a cadre of civilian scientists with experience using exactly the kind of Ancient technology they flying. Not to mention that they were all assigned to Icarus Base anyway, so they are (or should be) Stargate mission caliber people.

Not necessarily. Just because they worked at Icarus Base didn't automatically mean they were trained and ready to go on this mission.

That would be like saying anyone that worked at Stargate Command could easily go from being a nobody technician to becoming a part of a SG unit.

Hell they already did that with "The Other Guys."

 

[Checkmate]

Not necessarily. Just because they worked at Icarus Base didn't automatically mean they were trained and ready to go on this mission.

The show implies that if you're a civilian (unless you're in the main credits), you're a whiny, self-serving, let-everyone-die scumbag.

For something like an off-world base and all the dangers that entails, it's very unlikely that they're just going to pull random civilians off the street unless they're very specific individuals in very specific situations (such as Eli). They should be mentally, if not physically, prepared to handle Oh Shit situations. These chumps aren't. And it's not very believable at all. These people should be closer to the Enlightened end of the spectrum than the Cowardly Dickholes end. Hell, at least a few of them should be somewhat excited by the prospect and more eager to make things work and get everything operational. Why else would they agree to go to an alien planet, risking all the dangers thereof, to work on a project to travel beyond the galaxy if they weren't?

Instead, only one guy has any interest at all about staying there let alone making the systems really work. Everyone else is crying and sobbing like bitches.

 

[Broccoli]

Not necessarily. Just because they worked at Icarus Base didn't automatically mean they were trained and ready to go on this mission.

The show implies that if you're a civilian (unless you're in the main credits), you're a whiny, self-serving, let-everyone-die scumbag.

For something like an off-world base and all the dangers that entails, it's very unlikely that they're just going to pull random civilians off the street unless they're very specific individuals in very specific situations (such as Eli). They should be mentally, if not physically, prepared to handle Oh Shit situations. These chumps aren't. And it's not very believable at all. These people should be closer to the Enlightened end of the spectrum than the Cowardly Dickholes end. Hell, at least a few of them should be somewhat excited by the prospect and more eager to make things work and get everything operational. Why else would they agree to go to an alien planet, risking all the dangers thereof, to work on a project to travel beyond the galaxy if they weren't?

This infers that everyone on the base was ready and planned to go on the mission to Destiny. The show has indicated that this was not the case. Again, a tech pressing buttons to turn on a Stargate does not equal a scientist ready to "who knows" to activate Ancient stuff.

Everyone else is crying and sobbing like bitches.

I must have missed that scene.

 

[Mr Awe]

And poor Colonel O'Neill is turned into a bureaucratic dullard in charge of a Stargate program that apparently has lost not only any hint of competency, but any concept of policies and procedures.

Embarrassing.

I forgot to mention that in my review, but that is another problem! They made O'Neill lame!

Mr Awe

 

[Checkmate]

This infers that everyone on the base was ready and planned to go on the mission to Destiny. The show has indicated that this was not the case. Again, a tech pressing buttons to turn on a Stargate does not equal a scientist ready to "who knows" to activate Ancient stuff.

No.

That infers that everyone on the base was on a friggin' alien planet with an unstable core. And one they felt that had to secure with built-in weapons platforms, so the danger threshold was a little on the "high" end of the spectrum. These aren't people hired by a human resources guy who was hired the first person that met the qualifications of the job. These aren't people who were working at an office building a few blocks from their house. There aren't people who were living in a cushy little place of happy tranquility with all the comforts of home.

But you sure as Hell wouldn't be able to tell that by the way they act.

Everyone else is crying and sobbing like bitches.

I must have missed that scene.

It's called hyperbole. Look it up sometimes.

 

[Wicca who Wonta]

Eh? What are you talking about? He didn't have an affair with TJ on the ship. The opening scene was a dream.

We honestly don't know what their prior relationship was other than that one existed. The reason Young's wife/girlfriend (whatever she is) was mad at him is because that he left to go take the position off-world, which subsequently lead to him being stranded. The fact that TJ is there as well is a frustrating detail for her, not the reason she was mad at Young.

In my opinion it doesn't matter when it happened - he was most likely her commanding officer at the time anyway.

I liked this episode and the cameo for O'Neill. I've liked his brief scenes in SGU so far. He seems far more like a general than on SG-1 or SGA, not as quip heavy.

I agree he seems more like a general now but he also seems to have lost most of the characteristics that made him the Jack O'Neill we know from previous series. But it makes sense that they would have to change the character a bit to continue the track SGU is on right now.

 

[Cartoonist]

In SGU, the crazy soldier was in the brig where he belonged, and the duplicitous scientist was the only person they could find who was smart enough to figure out how to work that last chevron (but only with the help of an even less ideal person, Eli, whom they only found through an act of desperation). And no, they shouldn't all be highly motivated. Two of them (Young and the medic) were hoping to quit for personal reasons before they got stuck on Destiny. With one exception, the motivated people who were SUPPOSED to gate to Destiny didn't make it there, as Telford keeps reminding us.

Telford is as wacko as the rest. And O'Neill has become incompetent, as the issue with the inappropriate use of surrogate bodies demonstrates. I could see some of the civilians snapping under the pressure, although they are all adult professionals, too. I can even see Rush, if he's somehow the only one who can understand Destiny, although that certainly seems far from likely (and the way they brought in Eli was ridiculous, but he actually demonstrates possibly the most maturity of any of them). Young and the medic may have wanted to quit, but they are still adults; Young makes me cringe with his adolescent behavior. Greer should be nowhere near the Stargate Program; and then there's the other guy who went all pussy during the shuttle lottery and then stole food. And the hero archetype is a religious child molester.

The criticism I've seen is really starting to seem irrational. Child molester? He and Chloe look to be about the same age to me: early twenties. And he was only two years older than the girl he knocked up.

I don't get this fixation with "adult" and "adolescent." Sometimes we get stuck with adults who behave stupidly but nevertheless happen to be in charge. That's how we ended up in Vietnam and Iraq. That's how we ended up with the Great Depression and the current economic mess, and so on. That's why people always seem to hate Congress. Adults, who should know better, often act like lying, ill-tempered, short-sighted, selfish children.

I think the writers did a good job explaining why these are the wrong people and why they ended up on this mission.

Not good enough, and they haven't explained why everybody back home has gone stupid.

Nobody at home has gone stupid. They're all acting on almost no information. They know very little about the ship. What are they supposed to do that they haven't done? For all we know, this week's attempt to bring everyone home would've worked. Maybe Rush's light show was more of a show than he let on.

For that matter, we're only assuming Telford's crazy/incompetent because they've set him up as the antagonist. They've made me despise Telford. But I have to admit, the Destiny crew hasn't ever carried out any of his plans, so we don't know whether his decisions would be any better or worse than Young's.

I don't sympathize with any of the griping I've read about this show so far. If I wanted to watch a show about a bunch of ideal servicemen and women who are well-suited to be lost in space, who act like "adults" (which around here seems to mean they're not interested in hot sex, in which case I feel sorry for any adults here)

You've never heard me say that.

And? I didn't say I did. But let's not pretend that that's not a common complaint in these SGU threads.

I'd watch Voyager. And be bored to death.

Voyager wasn't boring,

I think I'm the best judge of whether or not I was bored. Voyager bored the hell out of me.

but I could say a few things about it. In any case, what I find boring is the endless awkward and forced shoehorning of ultra-"flawed" characters into places they don't belong.

I'd like to see you stranded in another galaxy thinking you're going to die at any moment, and see if your flaws don't surface. It makes perfect sense that these people, in this unexpected situation, who were NOT trained for this mission and should never have been here, are as fucked up as they are. That's not being "shoe horned" in, that's the essence of the show.

The relationship angst people keep bitching about makes perfect sense to me. These people are grieving for their separation from earth, their separation from their lives, and their separation from each other in a way that's more visceral than what I saw on Voyager (where the extent of their grief often seemed to be a wistful look as they talked about home). So far I like what I've seen. I think it's a good, enjoyable (so far) middle-ground between the darkness of BSG and the campiness of Stargate.

 

[Katrine]

And the hero archetype is a religious child molester.

You mean Lt. Scott?

Oh come on, he is supposed to be, what, 18, in those flashbacks Im guessing. He had sex with a 16 year old. While that is, under law, rape in some states, to say he is a child molester is completely unfair to the character.

You make it sound like he was some perverted 50 year old who went after 6th graders. He and the girl were two young people who made a dumbass decision.

He told Chloe about the priest friend he had, had drank himself to death when he was 16. I think both he & the girl were 16.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Although we could argue about Battlestar Galactica endlessly, RJDiogenes, your assesment of Stargate Universe is, for the most part, spot on.

In defense of O'niell, though, I'm unsure as to how much authority he has over the body swap stones. The power relationship between his post and the IOA hasn't been clearly defined yet. Or, it has, and I've just missed it.

But it's O'Neill. Even if it's not his purview, he'd have something to say about it.

What I'd like to see next is finding a way to start repairing the Destiny, opening it up to exploration, and Chloe becoming Explorer Girl. Bring back the sense of wonder finding new stuff and new situations in this huge ship.

Yeah, this needs to happen quickly. Watching this stuff is a chore, and I'm only doing it out of loyalty to Stargate; I won't last much longer.

Oh come on, he is supposed to be, what, 18, in those flashbacks Im guessing. He had sex with a 16 year old. While that is, under law, rape in some states, to say he is a child molester is completely unfair to the character.

Okay, then; I thought he was older than that.

The criticism I've seen is really starting to seem irrational. Child molester? He and Chloe look to be about the same age to me: early twenties. And he was only two years older than the girl he knocked up.

I was referring to the 16 year old; but if they were that close in age, it's a different story.

I don't get this fixation with "adult" and "adolescent." Sometimes we get stuck with adults who behave stupidly but nevertheless happen to be in charge. That's how we ended up in Vietnam and Iraq. That's how we ended up with the Great Depression and the current economic mess, and so on. That's why people always seem to hate Congress. Adults, who should know better, often act like lying, ill-tempered, short-sighted, selfish children.

And yet we continually see the audience for these shows refer to them as "adult" or "all grown up." That's the issue; when people behave like emotionally crippled adolescents, they're adult, and when they behave like adults, they're cheesy. It's a twelve year old's view of the world.

Nobody at home has gone stupid. They're all acting on almost no information. They know very little about the ship. What are they supposed to do that they haven't done? For all we know, this week's attempt to bring everyone home would've worked. Maybe Rush's light show was more of a show than he let on.

Refer again to the issue with body swapping. Plus, there was no reason for them to be forcing the issue as much as they did; they could have been more cautious.

For that matter, we're only assuming Telford's crazy/incompetent because they've set him up as the antagonist. They've made me despise Telford.

Well, it's a story. They write him as crazy and incompetent, therefore he's crazy and incompetent.

And? I didn't say I did. But let's not pretend that that's not a common complaint in these SGU threads.

Yeah, a lot of people still have problems with sexuality; that's not something I agree wtih.

I'd like to see you stranded in another galaxy thinking you're going to die at any moment, and see if your flaws don't surface. It makes perfect sense that these people, in this unexpected situation, who were NOT trained for this mission and should never have been here, are as fucked up as they are. That's not being "shoe horned" in, that's the essence of the show.

As others have said, they are still part of the Stargate Program and are rated for dangerous, off-world missions.

 

[cultcross]

As others have said, they are still part of the Stargate Program and are rated for dangerous, off-world missions.

They were at a research base, hardly intended to be dangerous. By your logic, Felger and Coombes should have been trained and ready for off world combat in The Other Guys. This episode (and elsewhere) establishes that there are many people who work for the SGC for their niche expertise, but are not even close to being suited for perilous SG-1 or Destiny style missions. This is hardly something new to SGU.

 

[DarKush]

And the hero archetype is a religious child molester.

You mean Lt. Scott?

Oh come on, he is supposed to be, what, 18, in those flashbacks Im guessing. He had sex with a 16 year old. While that is, under law, rape in some states, to say he is a child molester is completely unfair to the character.

You make it sound like he was some perverted 50 year old who went after 6th graders. He and the girl were two young people who made a dumbass decision.

There is right of consent. As icky as it might sound, having consensual sex with a 16 year old might've been legal in the state that Scott did his deed. I do think it was a mistake though to go this route with him. Have no problem with his religious beliefs or the abortion storyline, but the female should've been more age appropriate. I don't know why the writers went that route.

I understand the need for flawed characters and generally welcome that, but as I said before, you have to be careful not to cross the line. They're treading on the line with Scott, but I still don't think they've completely tipped over.

 

[Jono]

3 out of 10. Most of it was rubbish.