Expect More Harsh Reality In New 'Stargate: Universe'

[Snick27]

http://www.airlockalpha.com/node/7823/expect-more-harsh-reality-in-new-stargate-universe.html

According to series star Alaina Huffman, who was last seen shot in the stomach at the hands of the Lucian Alliance, the second season will force the characters to deal with their new circumstances on the ship of the Ancients in very different ways ... and not all of them will sit well.
"They have some hardships in Season 2," she told GateWorld. "All of them. And because, again, we’ve developed the characters and their personalities, we’re able to play on that. We’re able to play with each other and off of each other."

"I think for the series, I’m really proud of the time we took to develop the characters," Huffman said. "I know there was a little bit of negativity surrounding that, and [some saying] that it was too character-driven. But I feel like the consequences are greater, and the story is told more [richly]. Now it’s a story of these characters we know and love and the circumstance they are in, instead of just the circumstance.
"So I’m really proud of that, and I’m really proud of the transition that some of the characters have made, particularly my character. I think she strengthens and matures into her role a lot, and I think you see that "


Yawn! i miss SG-1

 

[Brent]

While I can appreciate bringing more realism into the show, I don't want them to introduce hardships just for the purpose of giving the characters hardships. It'll feel fake, contrived and forced.

I am however interested more in S2 than I was in S1, the previews look pretty good, the latest one has me excited. I want more action though, and some great space based battles and whatnot. I think the more serious tone of the series would lend itself well to some really great space battles. They really need to pick up the pace of the series though, S1 drug stuff out too long.

 

[Snick27]

Most of the characters i dont like so i dont care about their hardship and woudnt mind if they kill half of the cast off. No one is really likeable on this show so its kind of boring to watch them cry and whine etc.

If i wanted high harsh drama i would go watch a play. Why spend all of this money on sets and ships if they are just going to sit in a room or rooms and bitch and fight each other.

Pick up the action and explore and less about how characters react to stuff.

Am i the only one that found the last 2 episodes boring and slow? This show is going to get killed on tuesdays if they dont make it funnier and more interesting.

 

[PsychoPere]

^ The show doesn't need more humor, it simply needs a massive infusion of good characterization and not conflict for the sake of conflict but rather conflict that is organic, naturally borne out by the story instead of forced on the characters. One of the failings of the show so far is that there have been situations where Young could have avoided civilian unrest if he were to actually talk to Wray and let her know what's going on. As it is, season one contained too much forced conflict. Exploring the military-civilian mistrust can be done and could be interesting; it just unfortunately isn't being handled well so far. You're right that it needs to be more interesting, as well. It would be nice to see the crew move forward with their exploration of the ship, for instance, or more details on the alien race that held Rush & Chloe. Some good "coming together for the sake of all" stories would be nice to get to, as well.

Again, I disagree with the basic notion of "funnier" but I don't think there needs to be a dearth of humor, either. Sometimes the only way to react to all the shit going on around them may be to laugh, but the writers need to tone down Eli, in my opinion, because he is annoying as hell and not funny at all. There should always be some humor in some occasions, of course, but I wouldn't want to see it go too far, otherwise I could just load up an episode of SG-1 or Atlantis. SGU set out to do something different for the SG franchise, and I think it has the potential to achieve that if the writers step up their game.

Of course, whether or not this writing staff is capable of doing that is an entirely different question... Perhaps the show also needs a massive shake-up in the writing & production staff.

 

[Brent]

It's sad that it is only 1 season in and fans are wanting a shakeup of the writing and production staff.

 

[PsychoPere]

I only brought up that idea because, if I'm not mistaken, this is essentially the same SG-1 and Atlantis staff. I'm more than willing -- eager, even -- to be convinced that they can pull off a grittier, darker entry in the franchise. They have done good character work in the past, so I hope season 2 is where things really begin to gel for SGU. But if quality isn't on a general and strong uptick over the course of the first half of season 2, then it might be something those in charge of the show should consider. An infusion of new blood might (note that I said might) be necessary, but I'm not actually calling for a shake-up yet.

 

[Harvey]

It's sad that it is only 1 season in and fans are wanting a shakeup of the writing and production staff.

Well, yes and no. This particular series may be new, but most of the writers have been part of the franchise for half a decade (or longer) so creative fatigue isn't altogether shocking. On the other hand, with a new setting and characters, I had hoped the writers could deliver. They haven't. And that is a little sad.

EDIT: Beaten to it.

 

[Kpnuts]

Mallozi needs to go, the arrogant $%£&.

They spent time and bored most of us to tears telling us all about characters that are totally unlikeable, nasty and uninteresting... without actually telling us much about them at all.

 

[Kirby]

I'm at the stage where I'm watching it because it's Stargate, not because of good storytelling or interesting characters. I have never watched a show where I hated every single character, and this is pretty darn close.

 

[The Wormhole]

"More" harsh reality? I wasn't aware the show had any to begin with.

Oh right, everyone's cranky and bitchy and aside from a spaceship and the occasional alien, there's practically no sci-fi elements at all. Right, forgot, that's what makes this the "realistic" Stargate.

 

[cylkoth]

It's sad that it is only 1 season in and fans are wanting a shakeup of the writing and production staff.

We actually started 6 months before the show debuted.

 

[Brent]

You know what I really wonder, why do they keep forcing this crap on the fans, when the fans don't want it? It's like they are saying, hey look, we know you guys want it, we just know you do, even if you say you don't, we know what you want and we are going to give it to ya, pow right in the kisser

 

[Snick27]

You know what I really wonder, why do they keep forcing this crap on the fans, when the fans don't want it? It's like they are saying, hey look, we know you guys want it, we just know you do, even if you say you don't, we know what you want and we are going to give it to ya, pow right in the kisser

They must be Democrats!


What were the ratings last year? Seeing how Warehouse 13 is far Right of this show, how did Universe ratings measure up to Warehouse 13?

 

[Kaijima]

"More" harsh reality? I wasn't aware the show had any to begin with.

Oh right, everyone's cranky and bitchy and aside from a spaceship and the occasional alien, there's practically no sci-fi elements at all. Right, forgot, that's what makes this the "realistic" Stargate.

"Aside from a spaceship..."

This right here is what makes me think there's no pleasing fans. They'll move the goal posts to justify the fact that they just don't like it.

Probably half or just over half of season 1 was /predicated/ on science fiction concepts almost entirely. The much-hated communication stones turn simple character drama into a science fiction complication, and despite what haters believe, have been used sensibly and with restraint. The show's done time loops, realistic aliens that don't rely on conventional TV show gimmicks to save money and have a funny forehead person each week.

The survival scenarios in the series that have evidently bored most fans are entirely dependent on the science fiction elements of the show; the characters have had to deal with radiation, alien chemistry, navigating unknown star configurations, and zomg, alien computer systems that can't simply be cracked because "stand back man, I'm a hacker".

There were things that could have been better (and from all appearances, they're working on it). But so much of the whining about Universe has been based around, in the end, fans who just don't like it and not because there's something fundamentally wrong it it.

It's okay you know, to just not like something. You don't have to like the idea of the show. I don't like legal dramas, but that doesn't mean Law & Order is a bad show with a list of 10 crucial flaws I could dream up just 'cause.

 

[bigdaddy]

SGU writers seem to think hash reality is who sleeps with who and starting bitch fights.

 

[PsychoPere]

The survival scenarios in the series that have evidently bored most fans are entirely dependent on the science fiction elements of the show; the characters have had to deal with radiation, alien chemistry, navigating unknown star configurations, and zomg, alien computer systems that can't simply be cracked because "stand back man, I'm a hacker".

I realize, of course, that you qualified your post with "evidently" and "most," but I wanted to point out that these items listed in your post are exactly why I'm sticking with the show for now. I think that most of your examples have been handled fairly well, and I'm hoping to see more of those sorts of things on the show in the future. My main problem right now with the show? The characters. For most of them, I feel we aren't given real reasons to care about them and their struggles. I feel like we're expected to care about them simply because they're the ones on the ship, and that just isn't enough to keep my interest. As I've said before, there've been many times when misunderstandings and conflicts could have been avoided if people simply talked to one another (except for Rush - I don't want him to get neutered in that regard, since it's intrinsic to his character that he thinks he's better than everyone else and shouldn't have to explain himself). Unfortunately in season 1, a lot of the characterization seemed to boil down to what bigdaddy posted: "who sleeps with who and starting bitch fights." That's not interesting, that's boring; I don't care which guy Chloe goes with, the annoying-as-hell Eli or Matt because none of them are terribly interesting to me at this point.

 

[Snick27]

"And it's those kinds of moments that makes the series worth being a part of for the actress, who has not only managed to take on the role of a compassionate doctor and sometime counselor on the ship, but she has the added twist of the being a home wrecker thanks to her affair with Col. Young (Louis Ferreira). Those are depths that previous incarnations of the franchise shied away from and are all part of what makes SGU a unique and moving series, both for fans and for its cast."

And thank god they shied away from that. Its Syfy not family drama.

 

[bullethead]

Probably half or just over half of season 1 was /predicated/ on science fiction concepts almost entirely. The much-hated communication stones turn simple character drama into a science fiction complication, and despite what haters believe, have been used sensibly and with restraint.

Right, like the US Air Force would ever allow the Destiny crew members to leave the Pentagon in other people's bodies so they could talk to their family members, get drunk, and have sex.

The show's done time loops, realistic aliens that don't rely on conventional TV show gimmicks to save money and have a funny forehead person each week.

No one is saying those weren't good concepts, they just didn't execute them all that well and the time travel one reopens a massive plot hole in the SG franchise, namely why haven't they used solar flare time travel to correct all the fuck ups they've made. Considering that Baal managed to do it, it's safe the say the SGC could undo everything that happened after season 8 of SG-1 and have things turn out better for themselves and the peoples of the Milky Way and Pegasus.

The survival scenarios in the series that have evidently bored most fans are entirely dependent on the science fiction elements of the show; the characters have had to deal with radiation, alien chemistry, navigating unknown star configurations, and zomg, alien computer systems that can't simply be cracked because "stand back man, I'm a hacker".

It's funny you mention the radiation one because that was just something tacked on to the finale plot to give a ticking clock to amp up the drama. The chemistry one sucked because it was dragged out over a 40+ minute episode, the navigating one was actually good (assuming you're talking about when Eli, Chloe, and Scott were stranded on that planet) but the resolution was shit (they get back to Destiny when the ship was out of gate range), and the computer one is only irritating since they randomly drop it and pick it back up.

There were things that could have been better (and from all appearances, they're working on it). But so much of the whining about Universe has been based around, in the end, fans who just don't like it and not because there's something fundamentally wrong it it.

Well, I'd say there's something fundamentally wrong with the show if most of the characters are uninteresting and/or unlikeable, the bad guys don't have clear motivations, and the writing is uninspired. I couldn't care less about the montages (although they could use better music for them), the shaky cam, or any of that stuff, but the writers and producers have essentially used up all their good will since they haven't really produced what they said they would.

 

[The Wormhole]

Probably half or just over half of season 1 was /predicated/ on science fiction concepts almost entirely. The much-hated communication stones turn simple character drama into a science fiction complication, and despite what haters believe, have been used sensibly and with restraint. The show's done time loops, realistic aliens that don't rely on conventional TV show gimmicks to save money and have a funny forehead person each week.

Maybe it was wrong of me to say science fiction. the more appropriate term would be space opera. Aside from a spaceship and the occasional alien, SGU seems to be trying to hide the fact that it's a space opera, and is trying instead to be a soap opera.

Which is sad because smoething that appealed to me the most about SG-1 and Atlantis was that they were space opera that weren't afraid to admit it, which is a welcome breath of fresh air these days where most sci-fi shows are usually cop shows with sci-fi elements mixed in or a corporate drama that takes place on another planet. Granted, SG-1 could at times take on the dressings of a military drama (I've lost count of how often someone has walked in on me watching SG-1 and thought I was watching JAG) but when it came time to fight aliens and for epic space battles, SG-1 delivered.

And the "Sombreroids" as I like to call them (the blue aliens) are really disappointing. It seems like the writers are hiding the fact that they just didn't think them through by making them truly "alien." What are their motivations? Why do they want Destiny so bad? What kind of people are they? Maybe if they put some thought into them beyond "the cool CG creatures we stick in the promos" and fleshed them out we could have an interesting story of them taking over Destiny instead of the lame and cliched Lucian Alliance "we kill to prove we mean business."

 

[Aaron McGuire]

I'm glad they haven't really given in to the "we-need-space-battles-pew-pew-not-human-drama" crowd. They've gone the course of delivering human interactions that ring fairly true for the situation while doing it against a backdrop that comes as close to hard science fiction as one can expect on TV.

Aaron McGuire