Stargate Universe doesn't suck!

[Locutus of Bored]

However in what universe would a Stargate move from a military base to the Pentagon? That never made sense to me.

I think it had something to do with the real Cheyenne Mountain base shutting down in 2006, and so the producers felt it was time that Stargate catches up with the real world. As for moving it to the Pentagon, since all the Earth-based action in SGU took place in Washington, I guess it was considered convenient for the Stargate to be there. I agree, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense, especially when you consider at this point the Stargate program was supposed to be becoming more international.

The Stargate isn't at the Pentagon. It's presumably still at Cheyenne Mountain (at least it was a year before in SG:Continuum). Homeworld Command and the Alteran long-range communication stones are at the Pentagon.

You might be confused because the characters from the Destiny were shown in the Pentagon, but they aren't physically traveling there, that's just a TV conceit to make it easier to distinguish who's who. They're inhabiting the bodies of whoever are the soldiers or civilians on-duty with the stones at the time through a psychic link.

 

[Gary Mitchell]

I didn't like Universe much at first. The only characters I liked were Brody and Volker. I did watch the show all the way through and it slowly grew on me. I was mildly disappointed when it ended. On rewatching the show I really started to like it. I don't know why but the second time through it just clicked with me. One of the characters I disliked the most (Sgt. Greer) became one of my favorite characters.

 

[bigdaddy]

The Stargate isn't at the Pentagon. It's presumably still at Cheyenne Mountain (at least it was a year before in SG:Continuum). Homeworld Command and the Alteran long-range communication stones are at the Pentagon.

You might be confused because the characters from the Destiny were shown in the Pentagon, but they aren't physically traveling there, that's just a TV conceit to make it easier to distinguish who's who. They're inhabiting the bodies of whoever are the soldiers or civilians on-duty with the stones at the time through a psychic link.

No I'm pretty sure they did move the Stargate to the "Homeworld Security" which is at the Pentagon. The reason why was because they needed to get rid of the Cheyenne Mountain set to make room for the SGU sets. I swear there was an interview about that when the real base shut down.

And even as the planets look more and more like Canada in season 2, probably to save money, they all don't. Plus the episode I'm currently watching looks like Canada but they have alien deer which is nice. We never see alien lifeforms on the other Stargates.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

I think my favorite thing about SG:Universe is that it brought a sense of wonder, menace, mystery, and alien-ness back to space travel that the other series had taken for granted after a while. Space was able to be made epic in scope just by being space (rather than a Vancouver forest), and not because of a battle taking place there, although there were plenty of those too.

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5jmjRvewp8[/yt]

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emMw5rFxxx4[/yt]

I also appreciated the attempt to give us actual exotic alien species when the budget permitted.

 

[Skywalker]

After SG-1 dragged on for three or four years longer than it needed to and after Atlantis churned out five mediocre seasons, it's disappointing to me that SGU only got two seasons. It had a rocky start but by the end I was really enjoying it. Locutus' post above illustrates a lot of what I loved about SGU. I do think they tried a little too hard to emulate nuBSG early on, but around halfway through the first season they eased back on that a little bit and really started to settle into a very enjoyable groove. Alas...

 

[Gary Mitchell]

The Stargate isn't at the Pentagon. It's presumably still at Cheyenne Mountain (at least it was a year before in SG:Continuum). Homeworld Command and the Alteran long-range communication stones are at the Pentagon.

You might be confused because the characters from the Destiny were shown in the Pentagon, but they aren't physically traveling there, that's just a TV conceit to make it easier to distinguish who's who. They're inhabiting the bodies of whoever are the soldiers or civilians on-duty with the stones at the time through a psychic link.

No I'm pretty sure they did move the Stargate to the "Homeworld Security" which is at the Pentagon. The reason why was because they needed to get rid of the Cheyenne Mountain set to make room for the SGU sets. I swear there was an interview about that when the real base shut down.

In one of the later episodes of the show where they were thinking it might be possible to gate back to Earth, T.J. or someone was telling Eli that he would most likely be offered a position at Stargate Command so the stargate is still there. After all the things that have happened at Stargate Command it wouldn't make much sense to move the gate to Washington D.C. where there is a greater population.

 

[bigdaddy]

^ Yeah it looks like you are right. I couldn't find anything on a move online. However I did find out the US government stopped a reject called Stargate... which is interesting. I think if they did a third SG1 movie the plan was to move it then because of the set space issues. I'm going to rematch the pilot at some point to see if they gate back to Earth at all.

I think my favorite thing about SG:Universe is that it brought a sense of wonder, menace, mystery, and alien-ness back to space travel that the other series had taken for granted after a while. Space was able to be made epic in scope just by being space (rather than a Vancouver forest), and not because of a battle taking place there, although there were plenty of those too.

I also appreciated the attempt to give us actual exotic alien species when the budget permitted.

Exactly! It's one of, if not the only, sci-fi shows to have a sense of wonder in the last several years. Atlantis and SG1 were like "Look big bad aliens we will defeat using tech!", Universe went beyond that. Hell they introduced an alien race that brought back dead people and built a planet and star and maybe the universe itself.

You are on a million year old ship flying in space, maybe you can't see your family but you are looking for 'god', that's amazing and the crew realizes that in season 2.

 

[Hartzilla2007]

Honestly I though Stargate Universe was kind of boring, as they they were either doing the got to planet x to get resource y plot too many times or doing the idiotic power struggle on the ship thing. Add in the fact that I'm supposed to buy SG-1 practically a joke enemy as a major threat, the only competent seeming guy being the shifty scientist, the fact that the Young/Rush conflict seemed pretty forced at times, and the fact that the plot didn't really get started until around season two. I just stopped caring.

A lot of great scifi shows tends to have crappy first seasons.

And if they tried that today they would be cancelled.

Its not 1987 anymore there is way more on tv these days so you either attract a stable audience in season 1 or you go home.

 

[Relayer1]

I loved Universe.

I'd prefer Universe back to Firefly, and I like Firefly...

 

[Robert Maxwell]

SGU had a decent concept and a good budget that got wasted on plodding stories and nonsensical conflict. The first two seasons could have been condensed down to one and you wouldn't have lost anything of value.

It was a great-looking show, and some of the characters really had potential, and it would have been nice to see where the story went, but given who was in charge, it would have likely been a big disappointment.

Rush was my favorite and I really wish Young had just died early on so we could've been spared all his bullshit.

 

[DWF]

A lot of great scifi shows tends to have crappy first seasons.

And if they tried that today they would be cancelled.

Its not 1987 anymore there is way more on tv these days so you either attract a stable audience in season 1 or you go home.

The funny thing about complaining about TNG's first season was that it had massive ratings from the very start and it's ratigns that keeps shows on the air. So yes TNG attracted a stable audience from the start and only gained more viewers over time.

 

[Hartzilla2007]

A lot of great scifi shows tends to have crappy first seasons.

And if they tried that today they would be cancelled.

Its not 1987 anymore there is way more on tv these days so you either attract a stable audience in season 1 or you go home.

The funny thing about complaining about TNG's first season was that it had massive ratings from the very start and it's ratigns that keeps shows on the air. So yes TNG attracted a stable audience from the start and only gained more viewers over time.

So basically even in 1987 a show like SGU was screwed.

Good to know.

 

[DWF]

And if they tried that today they would be cancelled.

Its not 1987 anymore there is way more on tv these days so you either attract a stable audience in season 1 or you go home.

The funny thing about complaining about TNG's first season was that it had massive ratings from the very start and it's ratigns that keeps shows on the air. So yes TNG attracted a stable audience from the start and only gained more viewers over time.

So basically even in 1987 a show like SGU was screwed.

Good to know.

Universe's ratings were high enough to give them a second season. But at least had the series come out in 1987 there'd no complaints about it copying any other show on the air the time.

 

[The Wormhole]

However in what universe would a Stargate move from a military base to the Pentagon? That never made sense to me.

I think it had something to do with the real Cheyenne Mountain base shutting down in 2006, and so the producers felt it was time that Stargate catches up with the real world. As for moving it to the Pentagon, since all the Earth-based action in SGU took place in Washington, I guess it was considered convenient for the Stargate to be there. I agree, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense, especially when you consider at this point the Stargate program was supposed to be becoming more international.

The Stargate isn't at the Pentagon. It's presumably still at Cheyenne Mountain (at least it was a year before in SG:Continuum). Homeworld Command and the Alteran long-range communication stones are at the Pentagon.

Although nothing was ever stated conclusively in dialogue, it's definitely implied that the SGC is no longer being operated out of Cheyenne Mountain.

-SGC personnel who practically lived there during SG-1 and Atlantis are now assigned to the Pentagon like Daniel Jackson, Walter Harriman, and Dr. Lee. Admittedly, Lee has served other assignments over the years, but Daniel leaving the SGC for a reason other than death is odd, but Walter? Are we really supposed to believe Walter would be re-assigned from the SGC if the SGC were still running?

-On a similar note, we learn in season 2 Richard Woolsey and Rodney McKay are now at the Pentagon as well. Even if they did leave Atlantis of their own volition, it seem unlikely either would be sent to the Pentagon unless the Stargate is no located there.

-The Lucian Alliance seems to hang out in the Washington area, just like aliens hung out in the Colorado area in SG-1. We know they have means of detecting the Stargate and purposely set up handy to it.

-The Earth starships in SGU are in direct contact with O'Neill at Homeworld Command despite the fact in SG-1 and Atlantis they dealt with the commanding officer of the SGC.

-When Telford returns to Earth in Twin Destinies he's almost automatically in Washington. Rush uses the stones to connect to Earth not long after Telford went through the gate, and swaps places with Telford, who is in the Pentagon's stone room. Now, it is true that he could have been beamed from the SGC to the Pentagon, I find it rather unlikely that immediately after going the gate from the other end of the universe he's going to be beamed from Colorado to Washington just so he can go on stone duty. It's pushing things already that he went directly to the stone room after arriving through the gate.

 

[DWF]

Although nothing was ever stated conclusively in dialogue, it's definitely implied that the SGC is no longer being operated out of Cheyenne Mountain.

-SGC personnel who practically lived there during SG-1 and Atlantis are now assigned to the Pentagon like Daniel Jackson, Walter Harriman, and Dr. Lee. Admittedly, Lee has served other assignments over the years, but Daniel leaving the SGC for a reason other than death is odd, but Walter? Are we really supposed to believe Walter would be re-assigned from the SGC if the SGC were still running?

-On a similar note, we learn in season 2 Richard Woolsey and Rodney McKay are now at the Pentagon as well. Even if they did leave Atlantis of their own volition, it seem unlikely either would be sent to the Pentagon unless the Stargate is no located there.

-The Lucian Alliance seems to hang out in the Washington area, just like aliens hung out in the Colorado area in SG-1. We know they have means of detecting the Stargate and purposely set up handy to it.

-The Earth starships in SGU are in direct contact with O'Neill at Homeworld Command despite the fact in SG-1 and Atlantis they dealt with the commanding officer of the SGC.

-When Telford returns to Earth in Twin Destinies he's almost automatically in Washington. Rush uses the stones to connect to Earth not long after Telford went through the gate, and swaps places with Telford, who is in the Pentagon's stone room. Now, it is true that he could have been beamed from the SGC to the Pentagon, I find it rather unlikely that immediately after going the gate from the other end of the universe he's going to be beamed from Colorado to Washington just so he can go on stone duty. It's pushing things already that he went directly to the stone room after arriving through the gate.

As far as we know Atlantis is still on earth and there can only one active stargate on earth. And we know that the artic base was destroyed in the Atlantis series finale, so maybe for the time being Atlantis is being use to defend the earth.

 

[MacLeod]

Although nothing was ever stated conclusively in dialogue, it's definitely implied that the SGC is no longer being operated out of Cheyenne Mountain.

-SGC personnel who practically lived there during SG-1 and Atlantis are now assigned to the Pentagon like Daniel Jackson, Walter Harriman, and Dr. Lee. Admittedly, Lee has served other assignments over the years, but Daniel leaving the SGC for a reason other than death is odd, but Walter? Are we really supposed to believe Walter would be re-assigned from the SGC if the SGC were still running?

-On a similar note, we learn in season 2 Richard Woolsey and Rodney McKay are now at the Pentagon as well. Even if they did leave Atlantis of their own volition, it seem unlikely either would be sent to the Pentagon unless the Stargate is no located there.

-The Lucian Alliance seems to hang out in the Washington area, just like aliens hung out in the Colorado area in SG-1. We know they have means of detecting the Stargate and purposely set up handy to it.

-The Earth starships in SGU are in direct contact with O'Neill at Homeworld Command despite the fact in SG-1 and Atlantis they dealt with the commanding officer of the SGC.

-When Telford returns to Earth in Twin Destinies he's almost automatically in Washington. Rush uses the stones to connect to Earth not long after Telford went through the gate, and swaps places with Telford, who is in the Pentagon's stone room. Now, it is true that he could have been beamed from the SGC to the Pentagon, I find it rather unlikely that immediately after going the gate from the other end of the universe he's going to be beamed from Colorado to Washington just so he can go on stone duty. It's pushing things already that he went directly to the stone room after arriving through the gate.

As far as we know Atlantis is still on earth and there can only one active stargate on earth. And we know that the artic base was destroyed in the Atlantis series finale, so maybe for the time being Atlantis is being use to defend the earth.

And don't Pegasus gates supercede Milky Way gates where both are present?

 

[The Wormhole]

Although nothing was ever stated conclusively in dialogue, it's definitely implied that the SGC is no longer being operated out of Cheyenne Mountain.

-SGC personnel who practically lived there during SG-1 and Atlantis are now assigned to the Pentagon like Daniel Jackson, Walter Harriman, and Dr. Lee. Admittedly, Lee has served other assignments over the years, but Daniel leaving the SGC for a reason other than death is odd, but Walter? Are we really supposed to believe Walter would be re-assigned from the SGC if the SGC were still running?

-On a similar note, we learn in season 2 Richard Woolsey and Rodney McKay are now at the Pentagon as well. Even if they did leave Atlantis of their own volition, it seem unlikely either would be sent to the Pentagon unless the Stargate is no located there.

-The Lucian Alliance seems to hang out in the Washington area, just like aliens hung out in the Colorado area in SG-1. We know they have means of detecting the Stargate and purposely set up handy to it.

-The Earth starships in SGU are in direct contact with O'Neill at Homeworld Command despite the fact in SG-1 and Atlantis they dealt with the commanding officer of the SGC.

-When Telford returns to Earth in Twin Destinies he's almost automatically in Washington. Rush uses the stones to connect to Earth not long after Telford went through the gate, and swaps places with Telford, who is in the Pentagon's stone room. Now, it is true that he could have been beamed from the SGC to the Pentagon, I find it rather unlikely that immediately after going the gate from the other end of the universe he's going to be beamed from Colorado to Washington just so he can go on stone duty. It's pushing things already that he went directly to the stone room after arriving through the gate.

As far as we know Atlantis is still on earth and there can only one active stargate on earth. And we know that the artic base was destroyed in the Atlantis series finale, so maybe for the time being Atlantis is being use to defend the earth.

And don't Pegasus gates supercede Milky Way gates where both are present?

McKay said a program was written for the Midway station to prevent the Pegasus gate from activating all the time, so the same can be done on Earth.

Or Atlantis's can just be disconnected.

 

[bigdaddy]

SGU had a decent concept and a good budget that got wasted on plodding stories and nonsensical conflict. The first two seasons could have been condensed down to one and you wouldn't have lost anything of value.

It was a great-looking show, and some of the characters really had potential, and it would have been nice to see where the story went, but given who was in charge, it would have likely been a big disappointment..

OK, maybe I should have title "It doesn't COMPLETELY suck".

That's the funny thing, the show was supposed to be a TV movie, I don't see how that would have worked but I would have loved 13-30 episode "mini"series to see where the show would have went. I loved the mystery of it all.

And I just finished. I'd say after the stupid terrorist taking the ship to the point where they meet other humans that are our relatives was my favorite part of the show.

I think season 3 would have taken place 10 days later where Eli finds a plan to deal with the drones. I don't think the creators had the guts to make the show take place three years later. OI would however like to get get past the drones and move to a new galaxy because that felt very "Cylon" to me.

 

[theenglish]

The show definitely improved toward the end of season 2 and I always wish we had seen a resolution to the ending.

One of the problems that people haven't mentioned yet is the excessive use of Deus Ex Machina in the first season. Many episodes simply resolved themselves without any interference on the part of the protagonists. Now I'm sure the idea was to portray how the crew was basically along for the ride with Destiny and to focus on the relationships over plot, but for me at least it provided for some very disappointing endings.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Stargate Universe did not suck.

But it was not all that good either. The premise was awesome but it was just not very well cast.

I still haven't seen the final ten episodes. Any reason to go watch them?

I don't think the first season was bad either. The first few episodes were pretty bad. I think it picked up around the midseason cliffhanger, and I liked where they were going with certain themes and Rush's relationship with Young even if he was way too close to Baltar.

One thing I never got. They end one episode with three main characters failing to get back on board the ship before it moved out of range. That was, COOL, exciting, awesome. Then at the start of next episode they just suddenly made it back to the ship. What the hell? They wasted the entire previous episode.

Now that I think about it I didn't get to the end of any series. I quit SG1 midway through the last season because I thought the Ori were boring. I quit Atlantis the moment their version of the replicators showed up because I felt it signaled they weren't interested in new ideas.