I really liked Eli. He really represented the audience or a fan, much the same way Colonel Mitchell represented STARGATE fans.
The Stargate Franchise - A First Timer's Watchthrough
- Thread starter tomalak301
- Start date
I have a feeling the producers were playing the long game with that relationship, and Eli and Chloe were going to end up together down the line. That’s still not great (the idea of “winning over” someone who is friendly but not attracted to you has gathered a lot of negative baggage in recent years, and the two of them getting together would probably be planned to coincide with David Blue’s weight loss, though the writers did seed that Eli’s weight didn’t make him utterly repulsive to women, so that might not have been as bad as it sounds at first glance).
Last edited:
Intervention
The last few nights I really have been preoccupied with the news happening that Stargate just felt secondary. I went for a walk today and decided I really need to break myself away from the news just as a mental health thing and I decided i watch this episode with my full attention. I think part of that is why I've half assed my review on this finale and premiere so I will try to be a little more specific on this whole storyline.
I really liked this arc, but I'm still not a fan of the Lucian Alliance. We've had Goa'uld and Wraith and so the show decides let's have these guys and the mustache twirling villianry of them. That's basically what Dannic was and this arc itself reminded me of the big Genii Arc that took Atlantis Season 1 into midseason. This was your typical group takes over the ship and the crew fight to retake the ship. To put in a Star Trek comparison, this had elements of Voyager's Basics into it, such as leaving the crew on the planet (Which didn't amount to much) and having Scott and Greer taking out the LA goons. I really liked seeing Rush take charge here and pretty much say we're willing to sacrifice our people to take back control of Destiny. It was only the woman who shot Dannic that ended the stand off.
I think my favorite part of this episode though was TJ and the return of Caine's group. There was a hint of spirituality in there that I actually found reassuring, especially when we first saw the nebula and then the ship jumps out of Hyperdrive and we saw the same nebula. I also was really bummed by the loss of the baby, but I'm glad we don't have a baby to deal with on the ship and the show left it open that maybe Carmen is spiritually alive somewhere.
Overall though, I enjoyed these episodes but I wanted to give at least two highlights to the other three episodes
Subversion
1) Seeing SG-1 in action again was great.
2) I liked the idea of Rush being forced to solve the issue of the 9th chevron despite previously showing how long he suffered trying to figure it out and still failing. It felt like the season came to a head at that moment.
Incursion
1) Kiva was really ruthless. I enjoyed her stand off with Telford and Young. I'm not surprised she was killed off but I was hoping she would make it through the arc.
2) The action here was good. Like I mentioned for Intervention, it reminded me of Atlantis's first season midseason shows. It was pretty exciting.
Someone upthread asked about Eli and I like Eli. I think he can go overboard with the pop culture references but I have to remind myself that one of my favorite characters in sci fi (John Chricton) also went overboard with pop culture references. I think the characters are similar in that they use it as a defense mechanism against all the crap going on.
I still think my favorite characters on this series are Young, Rush, and TJ though. I don't think these characters are memorable as the ones in SG-1 or Atlantis, but for a series like this, those are the good ones. I wish wish there was more urgency in the writing like there was in episodes like Sabotage, the Justice/Space episodes, and Intervention. That's why I still like the other two series over SGU so far. They are both easier to get into.
I'm now in my final season of the Stargate Franchise. Maybe I will see Origins much later on, maybe I will see the Kino shows eventually, but I am really looking forward to the end and being done with this really long book.
The last few nights I really have been preoccupied with the news happening that Stargate just felt secondary. I went for a walk today and decided I really need to break myself away from the news just as a mental health thing and I decided i watch this episode with my full attention. I think part of that is why I've half assed my review on this finale and premiere so I will try to be a little more specific on this whole storyline.
I really liked this arc, but I'm still not a fan of the Lucian Alliance. We've had Goa'uld and Wraith and so the show decides let's have these guys and the mustache twirling villianry of them. That's basically what Dannic was and this arc itself reminded me of the big Genii Arc that took Atlantis Season 1 into midseason. This was your typical group takes over the ship and the crew fight to retake the ship. To put in a Star Trek comparison, this had elements of Voyager's Basics into it, such as leaving the crew on the planet (Which didn't amount to much) and having Scott and Greer taking out the LA goons. I really liked seeing Rush take charge here and pretty much say we're willing to sacrifice our people to take back control of Destiny. It was only the woman who shot Dannic that ended the stand off.
I think my favorite part of this episode though was TJ and the return of Caine's group. There was a hint of spirituality in there that I actually found reassuring, especially when we first saw the nebula and then the ship jumps out of Hyperdrive and we saw the same nebula. I also was really bummed by the loss of the baby, but I'm glad we don't have a baby to deal with on the ship and the show left it open that maybe Carmen is spiritually alive somewhere.
Overall though, I enjoyed these episodes but I wanted to give at least two highlights to the other three episodes
Subversion
1) Seeing SG-1 in action again was great.
2) I liked the idea of Rush being forced to solve the issue of the 9th chevron despite previously showing how long he suffered trying to figure it out and still failing. It felt like the season came to a head at that moment.
Incursion
1) Kiva was really ruthless. I enjoyed her stand off with Telford and Young. I'm not surprised she was killed off but I was hoping she would make it through the arc.
2) The action here was good. Like I mentioned for Intervention, it reminded me of Atlantis's first season midseason shows. It was pretty exciting.
Someone upthread asked about Eli and I like Eli. I think he can go overboard with the pop culture references but I have to remind myself that one of my favorite characters in sci fi (John Chricton) also went overboard with pop culture references. I think the characters are similar in that they use it as a defense mechanism against all the crap going on.
I still think my favorite characters on this series are Young, Rush, and TJ though. I don't think these characters are memorable as the ones in SG-1 or Atlantis, but for a series like this, those are the good ones. I wish wish there was more urgency in the writing like there was in episodes like Sabotage, the Justice/Space episodes, and Intervention. That's why I still like the other two series over SGU so far. They are both easier to get into.
I'm now in my final season of the Stargate Franchise. Maybe I will see Origins much later on, maybe I will see the Kino shows eventually, but I am really looking forward to the end and being done with this really long book.
To be fair, you could just watch some of Once Upon a Time as they do mini seasons and plots too. Plus as it went along got really long in the tooth.
What do you mean? Everything is fine.
*Makes himself another drink and lights up some lovely herbs while Googling nearest open gun shop.*
Next to Rush he's probably the best character on the show. It's not just because he's funny but because from both a writing and acting standpoint, he has the greatest range, the most depth and by the end of season 2, the most character growth.
With most of the other characters it felt like they had to keep inventing things for them to do or reasons for them to be relevant, but that never seemed to be a problem with Eli. For the character who is out of place by design, he always felt perfectly natural in any story he was in.
Some of that is the writing, but a lot of it was the performance. In a lesser actor's hands, it would be sooooo easy to make Eli unbearably obnoxious.
Aftermath
NOOOO Riley!!!!
I liked Riley. He was a good kid and he was killed off. So sad.
I liked this episode a lot. Rush has the master code to control Destiny's FTL, and still doesn't trust Young, therefore he has leverage. I wonder how long he is going to keep the truth from everyone else that he's controlling the ship. I hope it's not an entire season thing but I can see it going until the midseason. I also liked seeing "Gloria" again, especially since I was reminded on the previously on that she represents his conscience. It was also surprising to see Franklin again. I really liked the scenes with Riley and TJ and then Riley and Young. They did his death scene really well.
NOOOO Riley!!!!
I liked Riley. He was a good kid and he was killed off. So sad.
I liked this episode a lot. Rush has the master code to control Destiny's FTL, and still doesn't trust Young, therefore he has leverage. I wonder how long he is going to keep the truth from everyone else that he's controlling the ship. I hope it's not an entire season thing but I can see it going until the midseason. I also liked seeing "Gloria" again, especially since I was reminded on the previously on that she represents his conscience. It was also surprising to see Franklin again. I really liked the scenes with Riley and TJ and then Riley and Young. They did his death scene really well.
Yeah, actually showing the mercy killing onscreen like that was a pretty ballsy thing to do.
Poor Eli. They give him a love interest, Ginn, to help him get over Chloe. She is super cute, shares his interest in math and really likes him and then they kill her off in the very next episode, "Malice".
^^I thought that was a bit further down the road, maybe two or three more episodes rather than the next one?
Yes it is. It's about 5 episodes later. That is why I put it in spoilers since tomalak has not reached that far yet.
Oh, I get you. I misunderstood what you meant by "next episode" is all. You mean the next after the events you mentioned, not literally the very next one coming up. My bad.
Correct.
I was surprised by that scene, but it was incredibly effective. I don't mind if the series went that dark because I know it's more an exception to the rule rather than the rule itself.
Awakenings
Another pretty good episode. While the pacing still feels really slow compared to the others, Universe is churning out some interesting episodes and this was one of them. I loved exploring the seeder ship and finding out where the Stargates were being manufactured. I do think something is up with Rush now that he would leave Telford behind like that. I hope Young finds out what Rush has been hiding soon because that should reignite their conflict. The aliens on the ship looked pretty cool. I would also like to see the LA Alliance refugees get more to do, especially Ginn, who was pivatol in rescuing Young and the others.
Another pretty good episode. While the pacing still feels really slow compared to the others, Universe is churning out some interesting episodes and this was one of them. I loved exploring the seeder ship and finding out where the Stargates were being manufactured. I do think something is up with Rush now that he would leave Telford behind like that. I hope Young finds out what Rush has been hiding soon because that should reignite their conflict. The aliens on the ship looked pretty cool. I would also like to see the LA Alliance refugees get more to do, especially Ginn, who was pivatol in rescuing Young and the others.
I really liked the Seeder ship too. Seeing the manufacturing room full of stargates was very cool. This was our first time, getting a little world-building into how the Ancients plant stargates in a new galaxy. Presumably, it was a Seeder ship like that one that planted the stargates in our Milky Way galaxy that we saw in every SG1 episode.
The Lucian Alliance refugees on Destiny kinda reminds me a bit of the Maquis on Voyager.
Pathogen
This one was a little on the slower side, but it was still a pretty big episode. The scenes with Eli and his mom were beautiful, especially allowing the mom to come on board Destiny. I could still do without the Camille and Sharon stuff, as I still find that to be a little more soap opera-y for my tastes. It's ok, but I'm still not entirely sure what purpose Camille serves with the crew. I guess it's HR but it's hard to do HR with a limited number of people on the other side of the Galaxy. It does seem like she is there as a conduit to use the stones. I also really liked the interactions between Simeon and Greer and look forward to seeing how that rivalry builds. What is happening to Chloe is becoming rather interesting. They think she is under alien influence (From Space) and try to cure her via the interface chair. That doesn't work and it looks like Rush might bring Chloe in on his little secret. She wasn't all that interesting last season. She's very interesting this season.
This one was a little on the slower side, but it was still a pretty big episode. The scenes with Eli and his mom were beautiful, especially allowing the mom to come on board Destiny. I could still do without the Camille and Sharon stuff, as I still find that to be a little more soap opera-y for my tastes. It's ok, but I'm still not entirely sure what purpose Camille serves with the crew. I guess it's HR but it's hard to do HR with a limited number of people on the other side of the Galaxy. It does seem like she is there as a conduit to use the stones. I also really liked the interactions between Simeon and Greer and look forward to seeing how that rivalry builds. What is happening to Chloe is becoming rather interesting. They think she is under alien influence (From Space) and try to cure her via the interface chair. That doesn't work and it looks like Rush might bring Chloe in on his little secret. She wasn't all that interesting last season. She's very interesting this season.
Similar threads
