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Stargate Universe
Mar. 28th, 2010 05:09 amOK I walked into this show hating it. I am going to be very honest now, very, very honest. I haven't been a fan of the new show at all. However, I have watched every episode of the series... which seems odd, until you realise you can't hate what you don't know. That said, I am looking forward to the second half of the first season.
Why?
This is odd, I actually began liking a couple of characters, and Identified with some of the traits they hold. The first would be Lt. Scott's Character, He seems to be a little like me. On the outside I seem to let everyone in, I seem to tell everyone, everything. I don't. I keep in the things that would leave me feeling vulnerable and this leaves you with an internal monologue that at best can prevent you taking actions that might be the best thing ever, and at worst can cripple and shred you to pieces (trust me, I have done just that. I really am my own worst enemy at times) Lt. Scott is an internalist, and I can identify with that.
The other character is that of Chloe. Her father dies in the three part opener and she carries on, develops relationships and that right there is exactly why I like her, again she reminds me of me. I too have lost my father, and my mother too boot. The Chloe Character hasn't lost her mother, but since she is on the other side of a UNIVERSE, for all intents and purposes, she may as well have. The scene where she watches her father die, was horrific and intense, not to mention poignant. And that there is the third reason why I am getting behind it for season 1.5 ... I can relate, the writers are doing their jobs.
My biggest issue has been that it wasn't humorous, and Creator/writer Brad Wright has simply stated that it won't have the type of snark and zing that the predecessors have entertained. While in my heart I feel disappointment, and saddened by this development, purely because that is something the franchise was built upon, and in essence it was its very foundations - my mind however rings out with the solidity of why would they be cracking jokes and zingers? There is little to no hope in getting home, everything they have ever known is lost to them - and they have to be in close quarters with people they wouldn't have necessarily have chosen to pass time of day with let alone live, work and play with. Wouldn't it be completely unbelievable, and totally OOC for any show to pull of the we're a family and we laugh about even the most tragic of things???
In sum total the criticisms against it have been that it was too like Battlestar Galactica, another science fiction show that I have taken firmly to my heart. There have been similarities, especially in short term story ideas - however, Battlestar had an end goal - SGU doesn't appear to have divulged that to us, yet. If I did have to make any kind of comparison it would be to Star Trek Voyager. To me it is an updated, more realistic, drama and character based Voyager, and a lot more mature. Not just in terms of the fact sex is there (Its about time!) but in terms of the level of responsibility that the characters assume and are seen assuming.
This opinion will probably be seen as flying in the face of previous statements. I have watched the first half season, and I haven't been thrilled with it, future developments shown have deeply intrigued me, characters on my second round of watching (without the knee jerk of OMG this isn't SG-1/Atlantis) has shown me a group of young actors as well as those veterans who seem to be holding their own, and who in retrospect can make me wonder about them.
I personally don't like Eli, I responded so well to McKay's geek because he was like me. He had his absolute STFU moments and he had the Uber cool moments and he seemed as though he was one of my friends. Eli, is too much a stereotype (I have never been a gamer or convention goer, so perhaps I have never seen this behaviour) for me to relate to him. And Carlyle's character is a manipulative SOB, and I am not responding too well to it. The others I feel ambivalent towards, this could be rectified in the future by good writing and I hope it will be.
So What Am I Saying Here?
That quite possibly, if the writers tackle 1.5 well, I may end up loving it. That said I also have to approach it differently, this is a completely different animal to SG-1/Atlantis, of which I adored. I also have to bear in mind first seasons of any show generally have a n element of suckitude, this is while the actors and writers are developing the characters around each other, the crew are getting used to what works with the space they have created, and the directors are knowing the whole lot for the most part.
So What I AM Saying, is that I am gonna give it another shot, from a different perspective and bare in mind the aforementioned points.
Why?
This is odd, I actually began liking a couple of characters, and Identified with some of the traits they hold. The first would be Lt. Scott's Character, He seems to be a little like me. On the outside I seem to let everyone in, I seem to tell everyone, everything. I don't. I keep in the things that would leave me feeling vulnerable and this leaves you with an internal monologue that at best can prevent you taking actions that might be the best thing ever, and at worst can cripple and shred you to pieces (trust me, I have done just that. I really am my own worst enemy at times) Lt. Scott is an internalist, and I can identify with that.
The other character is that of Chloe. Her father dies in the three part opener and she carries on, develops relationships and that right there is exactly why I like her, again she reminds me of me. I too have lost my father, and my mother too boot. The Chloe Character hasn't lost her mother, but since she is on the other side of a UNIVERSE, for all intents and purposes, she may as well have. The scene where she watches her father die, was horrific and intense, not to mention poignant. And that there is the third reason why I am getting behind it for season 1.5 ... I can relate, the writers are doing their jobs.
My biggest issue has been that it wasn't humorous, and Creator/writer Brad Wright has simply stated that it won't have the type of snark and zing that the predecessors have entertained. While in my heart I feel disappointment, and saddened by this development, purely because that is something the franchise was built upon, and in essence it was its very foundations - my mind however rings out with the solidity of why would they be cracking jokes and zingers? There is little to no hope in getting home, everything they have ever known is lost to them - and they have to be in close quarters with people they wouldn't have necessarily have chosen to pass time of day with let alone live, work and play with. Wouldn't it be completely unbelievable, and totally OOC for any show to pull of the we're a family and we laugh about even the most tragic of things???
In sum total the criticisms against it have been that it was too like Battlestar Galactica, another science fiction show that I have taken firmly to my heart. There have been similarities, especially in short term story ideas - however, Battlestar had an end goal - SGU doesn't appear to have divulged that to us, yet. If I did have to make any kind of comparison it would be to Star Trek Voyager. To me it is an updated, more realistic, drama and character based Voyager, and a lot more mature. Not just in terms of the fact sex is there (Its about time!) but in terms of the level of responsibility that the characters assume and are seen assuming.
This opinion will probably be seen as flying in the face of previous statements. I have watched the first half season, and I haven't been thrilled with it, future developments shown have deeply intrigued me, characters on my second round of watching (without the knee jerk of OMG this isn't SG-1/Atlantis) has shown me a group of young actors as well as those veterans who seem to be holding their own, and who in retrospect can make me wonder about them.
I personally don't like Eli, I responded so well to McKay's geek because he was like me. He had his absolute STFU moments and he had the Uber cool moments and he seemed as though he was one of my friends. Eli, is too much a stereotype (I have never been a gamer or convention goer, so perhaps I have never seen this behaviour) for me to relate to him. And Carlyle's character is a manipulative SOB, and I am not responding too well to it. The others I feel ambivalent towards, this could be rectified in the future by good writing and I hope it will be.
So What Am I Saying Here?
That quite possibly, if the writers tackle 1.5 well, I may end up loving it. That said I also have to approach it differently, this is a completely different animal to SG-1/Atlantis, of which I adored. I also have to bear in mind first seasons of any show generally have a n element of suckitude, this is while the actors and writers are developing the characters around each other, the crew are getting used to what works with the space they have created, and the directors are knowing the whole lot for the most part.
So What I AM Saying, is that I am gonna give it another shot, from a different perspective and bare in mind the aforementioned points.
